Historic Webster Vol. 10 No. 4

~··•••••••••••••••-_:n~e:w:s:l:e:tt:e:r of the Webster Historical Society, Inc.
VOLUME X, NUMBER 4 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA WINTER, 1984
Webster's Lacy Thornburg wins
By Todd Thornburg
When Lacy Thornburg
brought his family to Jackson
county in 1954, the first place
they visited was the home of
David Hall in Webster. As the
Hall-Thornburg law firm
developed during the suc­ceeding
years, the farm on the
Tuckasegee became more and
more a familiar spot to the
Thornburgs, and when Sara
Hall decided to move to
Virginia in 1963, it was with a
sense of coming home that
Lacy and his family bought the
farm and actually moved to
Webster.
It is not surprising tbat Lacy
Thornburg felt at home in
Webster. His early life in rural
Mecklenburg county was not
unlike what it would have been
in rural Jackson county. Lacy
was born in 1929 and grew up
on the family farm on
Eastfield Road near
Huntersville. The farm pro­duced
most of the food which
the family needed. There were
the standard outbuildings -
the smokehouse where hams
and shoulders hung, the can
house where fruits,
vegetables, and canned meats
were stored, and the pump
house where the old windlow
pump stood. There was even a
big black pot where clothes
were washed. '
The family worked - all of
the family! The youngest
child, Jesse, seven years
younger than Lacy, carried
water to Lacy and older sister
Bobbie as they picked cotton
or hoed corn. (Jesse vows that
the older two drank more
water than they could possibly
have wanted just to keep him
busy!) Lacy particularly
remembers many hot hours
guiding a horse-drawn plow
across a rocky field. He says
it was following that plow that
probably made him determin­ed
to make a living some other
way and started his thinking
about going to college when he
finished his local schooling.
The schools in this area of
north Mecklenburg were small
and rural. The first four
grades were at the village of
Croft and were taught in a two-
Lacy Thornburg of Webster has been elected by North
Carolina as it's Attorney General.
room school house. From
there students went to
Huntersville for grades 5-12,
which were housed in a school
much like the one at Webster.
Lacy's high school graduating
class of 1947 was the fin>t to
complete twelve grades.
School and church were the
two institutions outside the
home which claimed the
Thornburgs' interest. Lacy's
parents, Sara and Jesse
Thornburg, worked with
teachers and PTA groups to
improve the schools and to en­courage
their children. They
were also "pillars" in the
Asbury Methodist Church, a
church which until recent
years resembled Webster
Methodist Church. The small
wooden structure was a se-cond
home to the Thornburg
family. Jesse Thornburg led
the opening exercises in the
Sunday School as its
Superintendent for thirty-five
years, and Sara taught the
young peoples' class. Lacy's
mother says she always tried
to dress him up for church but
that he carried his overalls
with him and changed clothes
before he got home so he would
be ready to play.
Often after Church on Sun­days,
the work horses were
transformed for pleasure
riding. Lacy and young Jesse
had special horses which were
sc tame that Lacy remembers
mounting his horse, Silver, by
means of a board propped
from the ground to the horse's
back.
Sunday dinner was a special
event! The table was laden
with country ham, fried
chicken, vegetables, biscuits,
jellies and jams, pies and
cakes. During the summer the
meal always ended with
homemade ice cream churned
in the hand-cranked freezer
and frozen with ice chipped
from blocks kept in the large
ice box. The family and guests
often stayed around the table
long after the meal was finish­ed,
discussing current political
and social issues. Lacy's
father, a mail carrier as well
as a farmer, always asked the
questions which kept anyone
from accepting easy answers
to difficult problems.
This man, Jesse Thornburg,
had a powerful influence not
only on his family and church
but also on his community. He
was a crusader who worked
diligently to get the Eastfield
road paved and to get electric
power into the area. He
understood tbe workings of
government and taught his
family lessons in social
responsibility by his example.
Lacy, when he entered the
Army at age seventeen, had
been nurtured in a setting
of love, faith, hard work, and
civic responsibility. After his
tour of military duty was com­plete,
he entered Mars Hill
College where he fell in love
with the mountains and his
wife-to-be, went on to Univer­sity
of North Carolina and
University of North Carolina
Law School, and came to
Jackson county to begin his
own process of nurturing a
family in the spirit, if not the
exact manner, of his own up­bringing.
Webster, indeed,
became his home!
Todd Thornburg, son of
Lacy Thornburg, is a member
of the English faculty at Sylva­Webster
High School.
Thornburg's life is
politics
By Paul Holt
A life in politics. It has really always been the life for
Judge Lacy Thornburg of Webster, recently elected at­torney
general for North Carolina.
Coming to Jackson County in 1954 as a rising lawyer and a
strong supporter of the Young Democrats, he has moved
this month into the third highest office in the state.
Thornburg had been a member of David Hall's law firm
on four years when Hall was nominated by the district com­mittee
of the party to replace congressional nominee John
Surford as the House candidate. With Hall's election in 1958
and his move to Washington Thornburg assumed senior
partner status in the firm and became the county attorney,
the attorney for the towns of Webster and Dillsboro, and the
attorney for the county board of education. Thornburg's
Sylva office virtually became Hall's district office and
Thornburg his local representative.
The untimely death of David Hall in January, 1960, ended
a growing na tiona! political career. Thornburg con­tinued
as the new congressmen, Roy Taylor's local
representative and took over the Hall practice.
As the political season of 1960 opened, Lacy Thornburg
challenged the incumbent state representative for the
nomination; defeated him in the primary; and in
November, 1960, won the Jackson County seat. He kept this
position through two more elections, but in 1966 Republican
Charles Taylor took over in Thornburg's only political
defeat.
Continued on page 3
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1984
Riverview, the Thornburg home is ''the
By Alan Thornburg
On the Tuckasegee River in
Webster there remains a large
white house, dignified in its
age, with land about it which
holds as many memories as
the great house itself. I was
raised in this house from the
time I was born, and I have
many fond thoughts of it. I,
however, am not the first to
treasure my hours on these
grounds. Grace Hall Brown,
Aunt Gracey, was born, rais­ed,
and married in the house
and on its surroundings. She is
a member of the family which
has occupied the place for
most of its existence, the Hall
family. I live in the original
house, but on only twenty-five
acres of the original estate
which held hundreds. Aunt
Gracey has written and
spoken of the old Hall place
and she has aided me in a bet­ter
understanding of it in these
ways.
Before the Civil War, Major
Higdon, sheriff of Macon coun­ty
at the time, owned the farm,
but he was forced to sell the
place at public auction
because he was in debt. The
farm was sold to Dr. John
Woodfin, and it was then sold
to the first Hall, David Fonsey
Hall. The payment was made
by Mr. Hall in the form of two
Negro slaves ; Icem, a boy,
and Sid, a girl.
Alan Thornburg
The Halls sold most of their
slaves even before the end of
the Civil War, but Aunt Gracey
can remember one Negro
woman named Edie, or Gran­ny
Ede, who stayed on the
farm and aided and comforted
the family even after her
freedom was granted. Granny
Ede graciously served four
generations in her humble life,
as she was near one hundred
years old when she died on
January 17, 1917. The old
Negro was full of clever
stories, many recalled even ID­day.
Granny Ede, in all of her
generous contributions,
always loved the farm where
she spent her life, and many
believe that she has never left
that place. Some people
believe that Granny's spirit
still rests in the Hall house,
and I have never doubted this.
I have, on more than one occa­sion,
seen what I believed to be
the image of an old black
Riverview, the former home of the Hall family, is now the Thornburg's Webster home.
mammy swaying quietly in a
large rocker. She always
seems to be knitting, but her
countenance glows with kind­ness,
and this does not frighten
me in any way. Sometimes she
seems a bit mischievous,
however, and hides or moves
objects. Usually she replaces
them after we have searched
for an appropriate period of
time! (If we have a ghost in
our house, I believe we should
count ourselves among the
very fortunate.)
When Granny Ede was liv­ing
in the house as a slave, she,
as well as all other Negroes,
was given quarters in a cer­tain
portion of the building.
The area in which the slaves
were given rooms to sleep was
then separated from the main
structure and the kitchen;
these are all joined today. My
bedroom is located in what
was once part of the slave
quarters. The room is very
small, with an extremely low
ceiling. In its original state,
the room was surrounded on
three sides by windows, and on
the other by a fireplace. I often
lie in bed and imagine all the
slaves crowded together in the
small space after a hard
laborious day in the fields, all
talking at once and not one
distinctly audible. The stairs
which lead to the rooms of .the
"quarters" were once not
enclosed. They were exposed
to all weather. They twist
around somewhat, but they
are without landings to make
the turns easily maneuverable
and so one must use caution in
climbing them. This problem
was probably a most trivial
complication to a working
Negro.
There are other interesting
facts about the Hall Farm. As
it sits on the Tuckasegee
River, one of the original farm
buildings was a tannery that
received power from a water­wheel.
This business was pro­fitable
for many years. Hides,
some local and some shipped
in, were tanned to perfection
by hand. They were first run
through a lime solution to
remove the hair from the
skins, then wheelbarrowed
over to a wheel at which they
were washed and made ready
for immersion. The skins were
immersed in vats which con­tained
homemade tanoozee (a
liquid made from ground
chestnut oak bark). Aunt
Gracey remembers well the
expert tanner who ran the tan­nery.
He was James Manahale
from Indiana, a man whom
Gracey saw as a hero and a se­cond
father until his death on
the farm on October 5, 1908.
The tannery continued
without Manahale until new
methods of tanning took hold
and the business was no longer
profitable. The tannery was
located on the edge of the river
just below a rock wall in front
of my home. A steel stake re­mained
to mark the spot of the
business until a couple of years
ago when the stake was
removed so as not to hinder a
tractor's plow.
The farm has harbored
many tales, most of which are
gloomy but fascinating. One
such story concerns a family
which supposedly lived in the
house many years ago. This
family induced passersby to
stop and spend a night with
them in order to rob the unex­pecting
travelers. Those who
spent these nights with the
mysterious family were never
heard of again. This same
family was said, in a story, to
have cut off the head of a black
I Y"tl- ·
Gracie Hall and David Brown were married on June
12, 1912.
man just inside the entr
gate to the place. This st<
known as that of "Rawh
or "Bloody Bones."
Recounting these intri!
stories was a favorite pa!
on dark nights when
Gracey was growing up
she also remembers cour
active recreation acti1
which occupied her glo
days on the estate. I too
spent many days on the 1
which I recall fondly. Ba
the early years of Gra•
life, she enjoyed the sum;
by fishing on a pond and i
river, swinging on grape~
sliding down pine st
covered hills and boa tin!
picnicking along
Tuckasegee. In the
children gathered, along
walnuts, chestnuts to 1
over the winter-fire. Pol
corn was also an act
which was pleasing to all
winter meant skating ove
frozen river as well as coa
down the snow-covered
Spring was a time for pi<
with the farm animals an
joying the sights and sme
that time of year. Alth
many circumstances
changed since these days
past, I have enjoyed the
in ways, hunting in the fi
fishing in the river, expl<
the fascinating forest an
periencing many of my
most treasured momen
this setting. I apprecia
more each year!
Times of leisure were m
only activities on the far1
any means, nor are the
day. Wheat was grown i1
fields and it requ
threshing. Cane was g;
and it was made
molasses. From the plm
in the spring to the harve:
in the fall , work continu•
keep the farm running. T
a large plot of bottom Ian•
in corn every year ; a s
field of hay and a mode!
chard still require wor
prove productive. The 1
remains active with the h
of the farmer even now.
The children and gr
children (in Aunt Grac
case) grew up and left
place with few changes t
made to the farm unti119'
that year the flood came.
river rose and washed <
the barn, the tool shed,
and the tennant house.
this great devastation, the
family was forced to sel
estate. The place was bo
by Mr. Earl Stillwell ar•
1940, then by Mr. Coates,
then by Mr. Dillard. Soo1
part of the farm on whicl
house stands and the prE
acreage of the farm re-ent
the Hall family through i~
to Mr. David McKee Hal
The house, in its prE
form, was built by the Ha
1891-1892, when the new I
ceilinged front portion
old homestead''
a nee
1ryis
ead"
:uing
:time
Aunt
, but
ttless
•ities
rious
have
>lace
ck in
:ey's
mers
nthe
ines,
raw­'
and
' the
fa ll ,
with
:oast
1ping
ivity
.The
·rthe
sting
hills.
tying
den­lis
of
ough
!lave
have
farm
elds,
lring
d ex­life's
ts in
te it
1tthe
nby
y to-
1 the
ired
:own
into
1ting
;ting
Jd to
oday
llies
mall
:tor­k
to
1lace
ands
and­!
ey's
. the
>eing
10. In
The
tway
crib,
With
Hall
I the
ught
Jund
and
1 the
1 the
tsent
ered
sale
I.
sent
lis in
1igh­was
Sarah France Thornburg with Gracie Hall Brown on
Sarah's wedding day, June 12, 1972.
added to a small low-ceilinged
house which dated back to the
1840's. The completed home
became one of the finest
homes in the county. Some of
the first bathroom and toilet
facilities were installed there
as well as a dairy with fresh
running water, a wash house
with stationary tubs, and a fur­nace
with built-in wash pots.
In 1950, the- house was
bought by David McKee Hall,
Jr. and restored and upgrad­ed.
David McKee Hall, Jr. was
my father 's law partner in
Sylva some years back and the
two families developed a close,
lasting relationship. After
David Hall's death in 1960, the
house and roughly twenty-five
acres of beautiful land were
sold to my father.
As well as growing up in the
old house, Aunt Gracey was
married in it, and so was my
sister. Aunt Gracey's foot­prints
were molded into one of
the hearths when she was
small, and these indentations
remain visible now. These
footprints have often been a
conversation starter, but
never so much as at my sister
Sarah Frances' wedding. The
wedding was beautiful and the
setting was one of happiness
and hope. My family learned
that the date of my sister's
wedding was the exact date of
Aunt Gracey's wedding which
also had taken place in the
house. The dates of the two
weddings were the same to the
very day, only sixty years
apart. At my sister's wedding,
thoughts drifted into the past
and to Aunt Gracey as we
noticed the imprint of her tiny
feet in the hearth and as she
relived for us her own special
day. The only two women ever
married in this house had a
picture made together on that
day of the summer solstice,
June 21, 1972. Gracey's mar­riage
was a long and happy
one, and my sister's seems to
be heading in that direction.
From the original farm
prior to the Civil War, which
held men in servitude, to the
house and acreage of today,
the homestead has changed in
many ways ; yet it continues to
exist with its original lure and
unmoving firmness . Many
generations have received life
on the place and many have
died on it. All have taken with
them part of the old
homestead, but it has plenty
more to give. Facts have been
recorded and stories have
been told about the old
homestead, but many facts
are yet to be put down and
many stories will one day be
told.
Alan Thornburg, the young­est
son of Lacy and Dottie
Thornburg, is a senior at
Sylva-Webster High School.
This composition won him a
first place in a regional writing
contest.
Winter, 1984, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Page 3
Thornburg's political
life has been
Jackson County
Lacy Thornburg became a candidate for North
Carolina's attorney general. He won that election in
November, 1984.
Continued from page 1
Dan Moore a former Webster resident, uncle of David
Hall, and no~ North Carolina governor, appointed Thorn­burg
in 1967 to a post as special Superior Court judge for a
four year term. In 1971 Thad Bryson of Bryson City resigned
as resident Superior Court judge. Thornburg was endorsed
for this job, received the position, filled Bryson's term, ran
in the primary, and was elected in 1971 as the judge of ~e
thirtieth judicial district (the seven western North Carolina
counties). He continued in the job, running again in 1982 and
being elected for another eight year term with no opposition.
Judge Thornburg resigned from the court in 1983 to .c?n­sider
the Democratic race for governor. Before the f1lmg
deadlline he announced for attorney general instead and
received the nomination unopposed. In November he took
the election, defeating C. Allen Foster of Greensboro.
According to common consent, Lacy Thornburg was con­sidered
by North Carolina lawyers as one of the top three
Superior Court judges in the state. They consider him a
working judge, one who does not often adjourn court on
Wednesday noon, but one who will keep the jury on th~ case
on a Saturday, and he has even been known to contmue a
case on a Sunday afternoon.
Lacy Thornburg is known as an even-tempered lawyer
and judge, one with a long fuse. The judicia~ had such a
high opinion of Thornburg that when an especially compe­tent
judge was needed to hear a controversial or com­plicated
case, Lacy Thornburg was sent to hear the case
even if it meant moving him out of his district.
Those who know Lacy Thornburg personally or profes­sionally,
know that he takes with him to his. new position in­telligence,
insight, and ability. North Carolina can expect a
good job from its new attorney general.
Paul Holt is a former law partner of Lacy Thornburg and
is the senior partner in the Sylva law firm of Holt, Haire &
Bridgers, P. A.
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1984
Thornburg's Scrapbook
In 1950 Mars Hill student Thornburg got his
first car.
Born on a Hunterville farm,
Lacy always had animals.
Mrs. Sarah Ziegler
Thornburg and her son
Lacy, age 5, in 1934.
In 1967 Margaret Henson swore in Lacy
Thornburg as special Superior Court Judge.
Lacy and his brothers on their
father's tractors in 1939.
Lacy Thornburg and Lou, his great dane,
at Riverview.
Governor Dan Moore, a former Webster resident, talk­ed
with Mrs. Dorothy Thornburg as her husband announc­ed
for office.
The Thornburg family: Todd, Alan, Mrs. Dottie Thornburg, Eugene,
Lacy Thornburg, Sarah France Thornburg Even, and Mark Evans.

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~··•••••••••••••••-_:n~e:w:s:l:e:tt:e:r of the Webster Historical Society, Inc.
VOLUME X, NUMBER 4 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA WINTER, 1984
Webster's Lacy Thornburg wins
By Todd Thornburg
When Lacy Thornburg
brought his family to Jackson
county in 1954, the first place
they visited was the home of
David Hall in Webster. As the
Hall-Thornburg law firm
developed during the suc­ceeding
years, the farm on the
Tuckasegee became more and
more a familiar spot to the
Thornburgs, and when Sara
Hall decided to move to
Virginia in 1963, it was with a
sense of coming home that
Lacy and his family bought the
farm and actually moved to
Webster.
It is not surprising tbat Lacy
Thornburg felt at home in
Webster. His early life in rural
Mecklenburg county was not
unlike what it would have been
in rural Jackson county. Lacy
was born in 1929 and grew up
on the family farm on
Eastfield Road near
Huntersville. The farm pro­duced
most of the food which
the family needed. There were
the standard outbuildings -
the smokehouse where hams
and shoulders hung, the can
house where fruits,
vegetables, and canned meats
were stored, and the pump
house where the old windlow
pump stood. There was even a
big black pot where clothes
were washed. '
The family worked - all of
the family! The youngest
child, Jesse, seven years
younger than Lacy, carried
water to Lacy and older sister
Bobbie as they picked cotton
or hoed corn. (Jesse vows that
the older two drank more
water than they could possibly
have wanted just to keep him
busy!) Lacy particularly
remembers many hot hours
guiding a horse-drawn plow
across a rocky field. He says
it was following that plow that
probably made him determin­ed
to make a living some other
way and started his thinking
about going to college when he
finished his local schooling.
The schools in this area of
north Mecklenburg were small
and rural. The first four
grades were at the village of
Croft and were taught in a two-
Lacy Thornburg of Webster has been elected by North
Carolina as it's Attorney General.
room school house. From
there students went to
Huntersville for grades 5-12,
which were housed in a school
much like the one at Webster.
Lacy's high school graduating
class of 1947 was the fin>t to
complete twelve grades.
School and church were the
two institutions outside the
home which claimed the
Thornburgs' interest. Lacy's
parents, Sara and Jesse
Thornburg, worked with
teachers and PTA groups to
improve the schools and to en­courage
their children. They
were also "pillars" in the
Asbury Methodist Church, a
church which until recent
years resembled Webster
Methodist Church. The small
wooden structure was a se-cond
home to the Thornburg
family. Jesse Thornburg led
the opening exercises in the
Sunday School as its
Superintendent for thirty-five
years, and Sara taught the
young peoples' class. Lacy's
mother says she always tried
to dress him up for church but
that he carried his overalls
with him and changed clothes
before he got home so he would
be ready to play.
Often after Church on Sun­days,
the work horses were
transformed for pleasure
riding. Lacy and young Jesse
had special horses which were
sc tame that Lacy remembers
mounting his horse, Silver, by
means of a board propped
from the ground to the horse's
back.
Sunday dinner was a special
event! The table was laden
with country ham, fried
chicken, vegetables, biscuits,
jellies and jams, pies and
cakes. During the summer the
meal always ended with
homemade ice cream churned
in the hand-cranked freezer
and frozen with ice chipped
from blocks kept in the large
ice box. The family and guests
often stayed around the table
long after the meal was finish­ed,
discussing current political
and social issues. Lacy's
father, a mail carrier as well
as a farmer, always asked the
questions which kept anyone
from accepting easy answers
to difficult problems.
This man, Jesse Thornburg,
had a powerful influence not
only on his family and church
but also on his community. He
was a crusader who worked
diligently to get the Eastfield
road paved and to get electric
power into the area. He
understood tbe workings of
government and taught his
family lessons in social
responsibility by his example.
Lacy, when he entered the
Army at age seventeen, had
been nurtured in a setting
of love, faith, hard work, and
civic responsibility. After his
tour of military duty was com­plete,
he entered Mars Hill
College where he fell in love
with the mountains and his
wife-to-be, went on to Univer­sity
of North Carolina and
University of North Carolina
Law School, and came to
Jackson county to begin his
own process of nurturing a
family in the spirit, if not the
exact manner, of his own up­bringing.
Webster, indeed,
became his home!
Todd Thornburg, son of
Lacy Thornburg, is a member
of the English faculty at Sylva­Webster
High School.
Thornburg's life is
politics
By Paul Holt
A life in politics. It has really always been the life for
Judge Lacy Thornburg of Webster, recently elected at­torney
general for North Carolina.
Coming to Jackson County in 1954 as a rising lawyer and a
strong supporter of the Young Democrats, he has moved
this month into the third highest office in the state.
Thornburg had been a member of David Hall's law firm
on four years when Hall was nominated by the district com­mittee
of the party to replace congressional nominee John
Surford as the House candidate. With Hall's election in 1958
and his move to Washington Thornburg assumed senior
partner status in the firm and became the county attorney,
the attorney for the towns of Webster and Dillsboro, and the
attorney for the county board of education. Thornburg's
Sylva office virtually became Hall's district office and
Thornburg his local representative.
The untimely death of David Hall in January, 1960, ended
a growing na tiona! political career. Thornburg con­tinued
as the new congressmen, Roy Taylor's local
representative and took over the Hall practice.
As the political season of 1960 opened, Lacy Thornburg
challenged the incumbent state representative for the
nomination; defeated him in the primary; and in
November, 1960, won the Jackson County seat. He kept this
position through two more elections, but in 1966 Republican
Charles Taylor took over in Thornburg's only political
defeat.
Continued on page 3
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1984
Riverview, the Thornburg home is ''the
By Alan Thornburg
On the Tuckasegee River in
Webster there remains a large
white house, dignified in its
age, with land about it which
holds as many memories as
the great house itself. I was
raised in this house from the
time I was born, and I have
many fond thoughts of it. I,
however, am not the first to
treasure my hours on these
grounds. Grace Hall Brown,
Aunt Gracey, was born, rais­ed,
and married in the house
and on its surroundings. She is
a member of the family which
has occupied the place for
most of its existence, the Hall
family. I live in the original
house, but on only twenty-five
acres of the original estate
which held hundreds. Aunt
Gracey has written and
spoken of the old Hall place
and she has aided me in a bet­ter
understanding of it in these
ways.
Before the Civil War, Major
Higdon, sheriff of Macon coun­ty
at the time, owned the farm,
but he was forced to sell the
place at public auction
because he was in debt. The
farm was sold to Dr. John
Woodfin, and it was then sold
to the first Hall, David Fonsey
Hall. The payment was made
by Mr. Hall in the form of two
Negro slaves ; Icem, a boy,
and Sid, a girl.
Alan Thornburg
The Halls sold most of their
slaves even before the end of
the Civil War, but Aunt Gracey
can remember one Negro
woman named Edie, or Gran­ny
Ede, who stayed on the
farm and aided and comforted
the family even after her
freedom was granted. Granny
Ede graciously served four
generations in her humble life,
as she was near one hundred
years old when she died on
January 17, 1917. The old
Negro was full of clever
stories, many recalled even ID­day.
Granny Ede, in all of her
generous contributions,
always loved the farm where
she spent her life, and many
believe that she has never left
that place. Some people
believe that Granny's spirit
still rests in the Hall house,
and I have never doubted this.
I have, on more than one occa­sion,
seen what I believed to be
the image of an old black
Riverview, the former home of the Hall family, is now the Thornburg's Webster home.
mammy swaying quietly in a
large rocker. She always
seems to be knitting, but her
countenance glows with kind­ness,
and this does not frighten
me in any way. Sometimes she
seems a bit mischievous,
however, and hides or moves
objects. Usually she replaces
them after we have searched
for an appropriate period of
time! (If we have a ghost in
our house, I believe we should
count ourselves among the
very fortunate.)
When Granny Ede was liv­ing
in the house as a slave, she,
as well as all other Negroes,
was given quarters in a cer­tain
portion of the building.
The area in which the slaves
were given rooms to sleep was
then separated from the main
structure and the kitchen;
these are all joined today. My
bedroom is located in what
was once part of the slave
quarters. The room is very
small, with an extremely low
ceiling. In its original state,
the room was surrounded on
three sides by windows, and on
the other by a fireplace. I often
lie in bed and imagine all the
slaves crowded together in the
small space after a hard
laborious day in the fields, all
talking at once and not one
distinctly audible. The stairs
which lead to the rooms of .the
"quarters" were once not
enclosed. They were exposed
to all weather. They twist
around somewhat, but they
are without landings to make
the turns easily maneuverable
and so one must use caution in
climbing them. This problem
was probably a most trivial
complication to a working
Negro.
There are other interesting
facts about the Hall Farm. As
it sits on the Tuckasegee
River, one of the original farm
buildings was a tannery that
received power from a water­wheel.
This business was pro­fitable
for many years. Hides,
some local and some shipped
in, were tanned to perfection
by hand. They were first run
through a lime solution to
remove the hair from the
skins, then wheelbarrowed
over to a wheel at which they
were washed and made ready
for immersion. The skins were
immersed in vats which con­tained
homemade tanoozee (a
liquid made from ground
chestnut oak bark). Aunt
Gracey remembers well the
expert tanner who ran the tan­nery.
He was James Manahale
from Indiana, a man whom
Gracey saw as a hero and a se­cond
father until his death on
the farm on October 5, 1908.
The tannery continued
without Manahale until new
methods of tanning took hold
and the business was no longer
profitable. The tannery was
located on the edge of the river
just below a rock wall in front
of my home. A steel stake re­mained
to mark the spot of the
business until a couple of years
ago when the stake was
removed so as not to hinder a
tractor's plow.
The farm has harbored
many tales, most of which are
gloomy but fascinating. One
such story concerns a family
which supposedly lived in the
house many years ago. This
family induced passersby to
stop and spend a night with
them in order to rob the unex­pecting
travelers. Those who
spent these nights with the
mysterious family were never
heard of again. This same
family was said, in a story, to
have cut off the head of a black
I Y"tl- ·
Gracie Hall and David Brown were married on June
12, 1912.
man just inside the entr
gate to the place. This st<
known as that of "Rawh
or "Bloody Bones."
Recounting these intri!
stories was a favorite pa!
on dark nights when
Gracey was growing up
she also remembers cour
active recreation acti1
which occupied her glo
days on the estate. I too
spent many days on the 1
which I recall fondly. Ba
the early years of Gra•
life, she enjoyed the sum;
by fishing on a pond and i
river, swinging on grape~
sliding down pine st
covered hills and boa tin!
picnicking along
Tuckasegee. In the
children gathered, along
walnuts, chestnuts to 1
over the winter-fire. Pol
corn was also an act
which was pleasing to all
winter meant skating ove
frozen river as well as coa
down the snow-covered
Spring was a time for pi<
with the farm animals an
joying the sights and sme
that time of year. Alth
many circumstances
changed since these days
past, I have enjoyed the
in ways, hunting in the fi
fishing in the river, expl<
the fascinating forest an
periencing many of my
most treasured momen
this setting. I apprecia
more each year!
Times of leisure were m
only activities on the far1
any means, nor are the
day. Wheat was grown i1
fields and it requ
threshing. Cane was g;
and it was made
molasses. From the plm
in the spring to the harve:
in the fall , work continu•
keep the farm running. T
a large plot of bottom Ian•
in corn every year ; a s
field of hay and a mode!
chard still require wor
prove productive. The 1
remains active with the h
of the farmer even now.
The children and gr
children (in Aunt Grac
case) grew up and left
place with few changes t
made to the farm unti119'
that year the flood came.
river rose and washed <
the barn, the tool shed,
and the tennant house.
this great devastation, the
family was forced to sel
estate. The place was bo
by Mr. Earl Stillwell ar•
1940, then by Mr. Coates,
then by Mr. Dillard. Soo1
part of the farm on whicl
house stands and the prE
acreage of the farm re-ent
the Hall family through i~
to Mr. David McKee Hal
The house, in its prE
form, was built by the Ha
1891-1892, when the new I
ceilinged front portion
old homestead''
a nee
1ryis
ead"
:uing
:time
Aunt
, but
ttless
•ities
rious
have
>lace
ck in
:ey's
mers
nthe
ines,
raw­'
and
' the
fa ll ,
with
:oast
1ping
ivity
.The
·rthe
sting
hills.
tying
den­lis
of
ough
!lave
have
farm
elds,
lring
d ex­life's
ts in
te it
1tthe
nby
y to-
1 the
ired
:own
into
1ting
;ting
Jd to
oday
llies
mall
:tor­k
to
1lace
ands
and­!
ey's
. the
>eing
10. In
The
tway
crib,
With
Hall
I the
ught
Jund
and
1 the
1 the
tsent
ered
sale
I.
sent
lis in
1igh­was
Sarah France Thornburg with Gracie Hall Brown on
Sarah's wedding day, June 12, 1972.
added to a small low-ceilinged
house which dated back to the
1840's. The completed home
became one of the finest
homes in the county. Some of
the first bathroom and toilet
facilities were installed there
as well as a dairy with fresh
running water, a wash house
with stationary tubs, and a fur­nace
with built-in wash pots.
In 1950, the- house was
bought by David McKee Hall,
Jr. and restored and upgrad­ed.
David McKee Hall, Jr. was
my father 's law partner in
Sylva some years back and the
two families developed a close,
lasting relationship. After
David Hall's death in 1960, the
house and roughly twenty-five
acres of beautiful land were
sold to my father.
As well as growing up in the
old house, Aunt Gracey was
married in it, and so was my
sister. Aunt Gracey's foot­prints
were molded into one of
the hearths when she was
small, and these indentations
remain visible now. These
footprints have often been a
conversation starter, but
never so much as at my sister
Sarah Frances' wedding. The
wedding was beautiful and the
setting was one of happiness
and hope. My family learned
that the date of my sister's
wedding was the exact date of
Aunt Gracey's wedding which
also had taken place in the
house. The dates of the two
weddings were the same to the
very day, only sixty years
apart. At my sister's wedding,
thoughts drifted into the past
and to Aunt Gracey as we
noticed the imprint of her tiny
feet in the hearth and as she
relived for us her own special
day. The only two women ever
married in this house had a
picture made together on that
day of the summer solstice,
June 21, 1972. Gracey's mar­riage
was a long and happy
one, and my sister's seems to
be heading in that direction.
From the original farm
prior to the Civil War, which
held men in servitude, to the
house and acreage of today,
the homestead has changed in
many ways ; yet it continues to
exist with its original lure and
unmoving firmness . Many
generations have received life
on the place and many have
died on it. All have taken with
them part of the old
homestead, but it has plenty
more to give. Facts have been
recorded and stories have
been told about the old
homestead, but many facts
are yet to be put down and
many stories will one day be
told.
Alan Thornburg, the young­est
son of Lacy and Dottie
Thornburg, is a senior at
Sylva-Webster High School.
This composition won him a
first place in a regional writing
contest.
Winter, 1984, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Page 3
Thornburg's political
life has been
Jackson County
Lacy Thornburg became a candidate for North
Carolina's attorney general. He won that election in
November, 1984.
Continued from page 1
Dan Moore a former Webster resident, uncle of David
Hall, and no~ North Carolina governor, appointed Thorn­burg
in 1967 to a post as special Superior Court judge for a
four year term. In 1971 Thad Bryson of Bryson City resigned
as resident Superior Court judge. Thornburg was endorsed
for this job, received the position, filled Bryson's term, ran
in the primary, and was elected in 1971 as the judge of ~e
thirtieth judicial district (the seven western North Carolina
counties). He continued in the job, running again in 1982 and
being elected for another eight year term with no opposition.
Judge Thornburg resigned from the court in 1983 to .c?n­sider
the Democratic race for governor. Before the f1lmg
deadlline he announced for attorney general instead and
received the nomination unopposed. In November he took
the election, defeating C. Allen Foster of Greensboro.
According to common consent, Lacy Thornburg was con­sidered
by North Carolina lawyers as one of the top three
Superior Court judges in the state. They consider him a
working judge, one who does not often adjourn court on
Wednesday noon, but one who will keep the jury on th~ case
on a Saturday, and he has even been known to contmue a
case on a Sunday afternoon.
Lacy Thornburg is known as an even-tempered lawyer
and judge, one with a long fuse. The judicia~ had such a
high opinion of Thornburg that when an especially compe­tent
judge was needed to hear a controversial or com­plicated
case, Lacy Thornburg was sent to hear the case
even if it meant moving him out of his district.
Those who know Lacy Thornburg personally or profes­sionally,
know that he takes with him to his. new position in­telligence,
insight, and ability. North Carolina can expect a
good job from its new attorney general.
Paul Holt is a former law partner of Lacy Thornburg and
is the senior partner in the Sylva law firm of Holt, Haire &
Bridgers, P. A.
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1984
Thornburg's Scrapbook
In 1950 Mars Hill student Thornburg got his
first car.
Born on a Hunterville farm,
Lacy always had animals.
Mrs. Sarah Ziegler
Thornburg and her son
Lacy, age 5, in 1934.
In 1967 Margaret Henson swore in Lacy
Thornburg as special Superior Court Judge.
Lacy and his brothers on their
father's tractors in 1939.
Lacy Thornburg and Lou, his great dane,
at Riverview.
Governor Dan Moore, a former Webster resident, talk­ed
with Mrs. Dorothy Thornburg as her husband announc­ed
for office.
The Thornburg family: Todd, Alan, Mrs. Dottie Thornburg, Eugene,
Lacy Thornburg, Sarah France Thornburg Even, and Mark Evans.